Original Songs: The Road to Regionals
by awtr101fan
Summary: My take on the season 2 episode "Original Songs." Kind of a Puckleberry Finn but mostly Puckleberry. Has some other friendships and pairings but not sure yet which. Berryford siblings included. Rating strong T for language.
1. Prologue Part One

**Original Songs: The Road to Regionals**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. I'm just playing in Ryan Murphy  & Company's sandbox of characters. Any and all music mentoned beongs to their singers and writers.**

 **Author's Note: This fic is a slightly AU take on the seaons two episode 'Original Songs'. Flashbacks are in italics with dialouge from the show (different episodes) being underlined while thoughts wil be in single quotes and italics. This story will be Puckleberry with tiny mention of the Finchel relationship as well as the Pinn friendship/bromance. There will also be the AU Berryford siblingness.**

 **Author's Note 2: I know I shouldn't be starting a new story since I've still got works in progress from my other fandoms. But writer's block (mostly) and watching my box set of Glee have kept me away. I figured if I got this (and another) plot bunny out of my head then maybe the block on "Hidden Truths" (Harry Potter), "Picking up the Pieces" (General Hospital), "Together Again" (Mighty Ducks) or any of my other unfinished works. For those who are still reading my stuff and follow/fave my writing, thanks for still being here. It meanss a lot. :) Enjoy the story.**

 **Chapter One: Prolougue**

 **(a.k.a. "How We Got Here"/Song Suggestions)**

"Okay guys, settle down." Willam Schuester waited for his kids to find their seats. "I've just gotten off the phone with the show choir committe. There are going to be some changes for Regionals this year."

The gleeks were about to stir in uproar until he raised his hands to quiet them. Some of the kids waited patiently with hands in the air to find out what was going on.

"Yes Mike?"

"How bad are these changes?"

"Not bad at all." he said before looking towards his female lead. "Rachel, were did you get the idea for using original songs?"

"The show choir website said something about them being an option."

Some of her fellow glee club members were amused at her resourcefulness. Others were somewhat annoyed, either rolling eyes or muttering "show off" or "teacher's pet" under their breath.

"Quit muttering you losers." Puck bellowed. "At least Berry's trying to find ways to make this club better and help us win. What have any of you done but bellyache and complain about shit." he stood in defense of his fellow Jew. "That's why she's co-captain and none of yous ain't."

"Thank you Noah."

"S'okay shorty. Just tellin' it like it is."

"And trying to get in her pants." Santana muttered.

"Shut it Satan!"

"Enough!" Schue yelled, ttrying to get the classroom back under control. "She had a point concerning the original songs. That's one of the changes. It's now mandatory as part of this year's set lists. There are other ruquirements." he said making notes on the whiteboard. "The scoring will be different. We competing longer. There are specific kinds of numbers the judges are looking for and wants."

"Longer competing time?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, since they've changed how the winners will be picked, Regionls will last a total of five days. Also, since more schools have been added this year, an elimination round will last the first three days with six groups starting and three groups finishing up on the last two."

"So basically like Nationals," asked Finn. "But less schools?"

"Yeah, just like Nationals. And the prelims will have three rounds while the finals have two. One round per day."

"Woah, that's a lot of planning." quiped Mercedes. "Do you think we'll be ready?"

"Guys, Imma hafta pull a Rachel here." everyone looked at Brittany. "What?"

"Brit Brit," Santana grabbed her hand. "are you sure about that?"

"Hey! I resent that!" exclaimed Rachel.

"Yo! That's my little sister you're talking about!" yelled Matt.

Matt Rutherford had been very protective of the small Jewish girl since finding out right before Regionals a year ago that they were brother and sister. He'd come back to McKinnley from Carmel where he had been forced to transfer to when the district lines had been redrawn during the summer. His family had lived close enough to the boundries that he could still commute if he got permission from the two schools. Luckily he didn't have to do this, since the Berry men offered to let Matt live with them so he'd get to know his sister better - as well as keep a protective eye on her once they were forced to leave her home alone because of work - even though the transfer wasn't complete until after Kurt had to leave for Dalton due the whole Karofsky sistuation.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way Rachie, Matty. I just wanted to say that we should spend all our extra time practicing."

"Brit's right everyone." Schue siad. "We've got three months tops but we've got to put together six set lists, if not seven or eight."

"Obviously some will be back-ups in case - God forbid - we have a repeat of last year's Sectionals." mused Tina.

"One thing the judges are looking for is variety. That's why we're gonna tap into some stuff we've already done either at assembly, performances in class or from past competitions."

"That makes sense." Matt said while Mike noded in agreement. "The less new material the less choreography we need to come up with."

Schue nodded while writing on the whiteboard.

"All right, listen up. These are the types of songs we're working with. Minimum of three to six per category between all the sets. The most we can use is eight." he said going over his notes. "No less than three songs per set. No more than the eight. Average amount of songs should probably hit around five."

The list on the whiteboard read as follows: Country, musical icons (examples - Beatles, Madonna, etc.), Broadway, mash-ups, orginal songs, accustic (either originally arranged or stripped down versions) - song selections can fullfill multiple categories if applicable

"Mr. Schue?" Arite rose his hand.

"Yes?"

"Do mash-ups count as one song or two?"

"Let me see." he told the wheelchair bound boy, checking his notes again. "They count as one."

The whole club was bursting with excitement.

"I want suggestions by Friday's meeting. You don't have to think of something for everything. Just as long as you tell me which category it fits and who might be good to sing it. I want suggestions for solos, duets and group nubers. Anybody interested in working on original pieces, come see me if you already have something. I'll look it over to see if it's appropriate."

After being dismissed, the Gleeks head off in different directions. Matt is seen walking off with his arm around Rachel while the little brunette talked his ear off.

"Matty, there's so many combinations of numbers we could do! I can't wait to go through my sheet music when we get home."

"I know what you mean Shortcakes."

"No fair!" exclaimed Santana from behind them, pinkies locked with Brittany. "How come you can call her that but none of use are allowed to call her midget, dwarf or hobbit?"

Matt crossed his arms, glaring at the Latina cheerleader.

"Fore one, I'm her brother." he reminded her. "And second, I'm using it with affection, not as a mean nickname."

"I still find that wierd." she retorted. "You look nothing alike. You sure she's your sister?"

"Back off Satan!"

He felt a small hand on his arm as he started to get both angry and annoyed.

"Matt, ignore her."

"You're right baby girl, let's go. Maybe you can find a kick ass song for you and me to sing together."

He loved seeing the way music lit up her face. And he loved knowing that he did that. If only he'd known sooner that they shared the same birth mother. He thought back to when they found out they were both borne of the same woman, Shelby Corcoran.

 _#~#~#~#~#_

 _A few weeks before the day Vocal Adrenaline finkified the New Directions (possibly sometime between the Madonna assignment and the week that Rachel Berry lost her voice, maybe even around the same week as the Lady Gaga and Kiss performances)..._

 _"Matthew, have a seat."_

 _Matt sat down on the couch across the love seat his parents occupied. Based on the looks on their faces, he could tell something serious was going on._

 _"What's up Mom, Dad?"_

 _"Son," his mother started. "you know we love you. Right?"_

 _"Yeah, I know."_

 _"And you know that even though your mom didn't give birth to you, she's still your mom. Right?"_

 _"Yeah, I know that too. What does that have to do with things?"_

 _His parents shared a look._

 _"Your birth mother called today. She wanted to know if you wanted to meet her. Face to face."_

 _Matt thought about this for a moment. He'd know for a long while that he'd been the product of a drunken affair when his parents found out that his mom couldn't have kids and she tried to push him away. His biological mother relinquished her maternal rights once she found out their situation. He'd known very little about the woman who'd carried him to term in her belly whom he'd never laid eyes on or spoken to.. He knew her name, what kind of job she had, things like that. But he didn't know if she'd had other children or anything relating to her family life._

 _"Any particular reason she wants to see me now, seventeen years after the fact?"_

 _"It turns out that you have a sister somewhere in the area. A baby she was a surrogate for with another couple. This was several months - almost a whole year - after you were born." his dad explained. "She's trying to meet the young girl but also wanted to extend the same courtesy to you. Maybe you'd like to meet your birth sister."_

 _"A little sister? I always wanted one of those." he said with a smail smile._

 _"It's completely up to you." his mom told him. "Who knows maybe you already know her."_

 _"I'll think about it._

 _#~#~#~#~#_

 _A few weeks later - incidently on the same day Vocal Adrenaline funkified the New Directions - he'd made up his mind to meet his birth mother. And he got one of the biggest shocks of his life when he realized his mom was right._

 _"Holy crap! You're Rachel's mom. The resemblance is freaking uncanny. Does she know yet? About me?"_

 _"No. We dididn't get the chance, seeing as I told her last week that we should appreciate each other from afar. Like I told her, I'm not capable of being a teenager's mom even though I am their mother."_

 _"I gotta go. I need to go make sure she's okay."_

 _"Why wouldn't she be?"_

 _"Your star broke her heart after he left our choir hangin' in the wind to come back to yours. Kind of makes me wonder what else he's capable of doing to put her in a funk."_

 _#~#~#~#~#_

 _Later that same week, he held Rechel as she cried in the choir room after getting cleaned up from the egging that was dished out by Vocal Adrenaline._

 _"It's okay baby doll. No one's gonna hurt you anymore. Not while I'm here." he told here while placing a loving kiss on the top of her head. "St. Douche will pay for what he's done to you. I promise you that sweets."_

 _A loud bang from the choir room's doorway got their attention. Just like that, they had gotten the attention of a very angry football player._

 _"What the Hell, Rutherford?" he heard Finn yelling at him at seeing the tiny diva in the dark footballer's embrace. "First Puckerman snags Quinn out from under me. Now you're trying to do the same with Rachel!"_

 _"Hey, it's not like that Hudson! Besides, Rach's not even yours to be snagged away from!"_

 _"Then what the Hell are you doing with your arms around her?"_

 _"Taking care of my baby sister you jerkoff!"_

 _"Yeah right! Rachel doesn't have any brothers."_

 _"It's true. We have the sae birth mother. Not that it's any of your business. Like Matthew said, I'm not yours."_

 _"Besides, I should be kicking your ass right now considering all of what you did to Rachel. But first, I'm taking care of St. James and then finding a way to get the assholes in this shithole to stop messing with my baby doll."_

 _#~#~#~#~#_

He was brought out of his musings by a tug on his letterman jacket's sleeve. He smiled down at Rachel.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll ignore her, just like you say. Then when we're done looking at songs I'll show you another self-defense move. And we can also work on that left hook of yours."

"Matty, you said my left hook was fine."

"I know. But we need to make it killer." he told her, walking her down the hall to the parking lot to drive home.

 _'If I'd been told we were related before the bullying, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if not going on at all. Or at least I'd been able to to do something to help make it easier.'_

 _#~#~#~#~#_

The next lunch rehersal/meeting found some members of New Directions complaining about doing original songs as part of their setlist requirements for Regionals. Rachal, Matt, Puck and Mike rolled thire eyes as Mercedes voices her doubts.

"You're right, we're not gonna be as good at it. We're gonna be better." Quinn started. "We won't just be using other peoples' words or music, even though that's true for all the teams." the blonde cheerleader stood, heading towards the center of the floor. "It'll be our own. Our own heart, soul, not just our voices." She took a moment to look around the room. "We have several really talented songwriters in our midst. Rachel? I was thinking maybe you and I could write a song together."

"I'll think about it."

"Baby doll, I'm not sure about this."

"It'll be fine Matty."

 _#~#~#~#~#_

Later that day, Quinn sat playing the piano in the auditorium when Rachel showed up.

"You're late."

The smaller girl gives her a dubious look.

"We're friends, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

The brunnette steels herself, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I mean, like everything happened last year. You gave your baby to mine and Matt's mom. We kind of bonded over it, right?"

"What's your point?"

"My point is…Is that I know we haven't spent a lot of time together this year, but I thought that we were close enough to be honest with each other."

"Go ahead, ask me."

Rachel's feet shift akwardly.

"Fine. Are you and Finn together?"

Quinn turns towards the piano before answering here.

"Yes. It's been a couple of weeks." she turns back towards Rachel, irritated expression on her face. "It's like Groundhog's Day with you, Rachel. How many times do you have to make the same mistake to realize it's not going to work out?"

Rachel looks down for a moment to collect herself, even though a little piece of her is dying on the inside.

"Thank you for being honest with me, Quinn, and… And I'm happy for you and Finn, but don't go and try to rewrite history, okay? It was real between us. He chose me over you."

"And how long did that last for?"

"Why are you being so mean?"

Quinn gets up from the piano, walking in Rachel's direction.

"Do you want to know how this story plays out? I get Finn, you get heartbroken," she starts pacing the floor. "and then Finn and I stay here and start a family." she glances at the smaller girl to gadge her reaction. "I'll become a successful real estate agent, and Finn will take over Kurt's dad's tire shop." her voice beginning to break. "You don't belong here, Rachel, and you can't hate me for helping to send you on your way."

The tiny diva shakes her head while she listens.

"No. I'm not giving up on Finn. It's not over between us."

"Yes, it is!" Quinn snaps, angrily running her fingers through her hair. "You're so frustrating, and that is why you can't write a good song…Because you live in this little schoolgirl fantasy of life. Rachel, if you keep looking for that happy ending, then you are never going to get it right." she starts heading back to her seat at the piano. "So we're done with that, and why don't we just return to our work, okay?"

"No, I think I'm gonna write this song on my own."

Rachel storms out of the auditorium, heading out of the school's building in tears.

#~#~#~#~#

Later that night, Rachel sat in her room writing on sheet music when her brother knocked on her door.

"You okay baby?"

She looked up at him with glassy eyes.

"You were right. Things with Quinn didn't work out."

Matt sighed, stepping into the room.

"I'm sorry sweets. You wanna talk about it?"

"In a while. I need to finish this first."

The footballer looked down at the pages to see the makings of a song titled "Get It Right". She doesn't stop crying, but the waterworks do slow down a bit.

"You want me to take a look when you're done? Talk about it over some of those awesome cookies you baked?"

She simply nods. He kisses the top of her head.

"Thanks Matty. I love you."

"Love you too, doll face."

 ** _#~#~#~#~#_**

 **Author's Note 3: Part 2 of the Prologue coming soon. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Prologue Part Two

**Original Songs The Road to Regionals**

 **Disclaimer: Please see the first chapter.**

 **Author's Note: Here's the second part of the prologue. It was originally part of the last chapter but was getting too long. Sorry about that. Anyways, it picks up right where the last one left off. I hope it came out okay. Also, any mistakes I've made before - last chapter - have been fixed. Thoughts are now in italics as well as their single quites. Movie/musical titles will be in underlined italics and song titles will be in double quotes. Also, there will be slight Finn bashing in this chapter, just thought I'd warn you in case that's not your cup of tea.**

 **Review Response to Guest: Matt has a total of three parents. His dad met Shelby while geting drunk after having a fight with his wife, who is Matt's adoptive mom. It's all explained in the first flashback. Is it possible you misread that part.**

 **Review Responses to gleefan2009, Andrea, Alexa: I'm glad y'all liked the story. I think the Berryford siblings rock as well. And Alea, I loved getting your insight on the Finn situation. It was so on cue with what I was thinking. I hope this was worth the wait.**

 **Chapter Two: Song Selections**

 **(a.k.a. Prologue Part Two)**

A coulple of hours and three batches of devoured cookies later, the siblings fond themselves debating musical selections and who should perform them.

"I'm teling you Rach, you shoud do one of those songs from _Wicked_ , either with Tina or Cedes."

"I don't kow Matty. If Mercedes and I do a Broadway duet then it should be the one from _RENT_ we used in the diva-off."

"That was pretty intense." he said munching on another cookie. "Jot it down on our list."

"You need a solo."

Matt snapped his head up in disbelief.

"You serious? I'm not sure I've got the stuff to lead a number or do one on my own."

"Matthew Rutherford! That is a horrible thing to say to me!" Rachel exclaimed with a cheeky grin on her face. "As much as we both hate to admit it, it's in the DNA we got from Shelby. Performing is in our veins and our bones. As long as we find something that works, your voice will be fine to carry a partner or shine on your own."

Matt sighed deeply before agreeing with his sister.

"So, how about some Otis o Marvin? Maybe some Clapton?"

Rachel tapped her chin in deep thought.

"If you go the Clapton route, I'd suggest either "Change the World" or "Old Love". "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" would be my choice for Marvin."

"That could be our duet." he grinned at her. "Or maybe we could sing "Love Can Build a Bridge" by The Judds."

"Those aren't bad ideas." she siad making notes. "I'm sure either one could be doable." Rachel said while making notatons on the growing list of songs. "And whichever on e of thosse that doesn't work for us might work for somebody else."

The two siblings stayed up the rest of the night going over music for themselves as well as the rest of their teammates.

#~#~#~#~#

On Thursday, the glee club was sitting around the choir room waiting for Mr. Schue to arrive and practice to get underway. Some looked bored (Santana, Quinn) while others looked either excited or nervous (Matt, Brittney, Rachel). Puck swaggered into the room and proceeded towards Rachel and Matt.

"Hey man," he siad bumping the other boy's fist. "hello my hot little Jewish American princess." he said in greeting to Rachel. He noticed she was looking a little down - more so than usual since Sectionals - while pulling a notebook from his bag. "I take it by the looks of it the rumors are true? What a fuckin' hypocrite."

"What do you mean Noah?"

"Frankenstien over there." he gestered towards Finn. "You over here, looking all sad - sadder than usual, might I add. I'm just saying he's a hypocrite since he broke up with you over a little kiss - well not little by any means, but so not the point. Yet there he is with the girl who actually slept with me and lied for months when you were up front with him about what we did the next day." he explained, scratching the back of his neck. "And to think I let him guilt trip me into not singing any more songs with you."

"He did WHAT?!"

 _'Well at lest she's not wearing that kicked puppy look anymore. Although I'm not sure if that death glare is for me, Hudson or both of us.'_ Puck thought. _'But man does it make her look hot. I wonder if I shoudl tell her the whole promise.'_

The rest of the group glanced in their directed at her outburst.

"Yeah, right after our "Need You Now" performance and before the game. I was trying to get him to put up a united front because of the other football players. But if I'd known this would go down, I wouldn't have made that stupid promise. We'd have more awesome duets together."

"Puckleberry would be so cute together!" Brittney squeled.

"Brit, not now." Santana groaned.

"Wait, it was her who came up with that name?" Puck's eyes widened. "I'll be damned. Not important. What is important is that Finny-D over there s a douche."

"Says the guy who slept with my girlfriend and knocked her u."

"Yeah, the one who's back you told me you kissed Rachel behind. Twice."

"Why do you care anyway?"

"You know why. Remember what else you made me promise."

Mr. Schue walked in before anything else could be said.

"All right everybody! Let's see what you came up with today." he said clapping his hands together. "We still have til tomorrow if no one has anything."

"Mr. Schue?" Brittney raised her hand. "I could only think of two songs."

"That's okay, Brit. What do you have?"

"We should do "Toxic" but have one of the guys that is really great at dancing sing your part of the song. Maybe Matt or Mike or Puck. And I think Puck and Rachel should sing "Need You Now" again."

Everyone other than the aforementioned pair and Finn got happy at her suggestion. Puck looked shocked (at the group) and anxious (at Finn). Rachel looked like she had her thinking cap on. Finn looked like he wanted to hit something (mainly Puck).

"Ohh...the guys could do Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel' with Artie singing it by himself while the other guys do a cool dance or they can split it up somehow but still have the cool dance."

"That sounds fantastic Brittany." Schue said writing stuff down on the whiteboard. "Anyone else?"

"Matthew and I came up with a list of several suggestions. I think we might have thought of something to showcase everyone's talents."

"Wow...Berry sharing the spotlight." Quinn muttered. "Sounds like the end of the world."

"Shutt it Fabray!" Matt said defending his sister. "Rach isn't as selfish as you think. Might wanna take a look in the miror before you talk about my baby doll like that. If she was really selfish, Jew-Fro woulda leeked you being up the duff on his stupid blog by a week or two."

"And the reason why he didn't?"

"Becuase Berry here went 'Sixteen Candles' on the dweeb." Puck retorted.

"Noah!"

"S'true. I saw him waving 'em around once."

"Which just earned him a belated swirlie." Matt said murderously. "Possibly the one thing you didn't tell me as your big brother. I knew you paid him. Just not how."

"Geez, if it wasn't for the fact you two rub it in all our faces that you're related I'd think YOU wanted in her pants Rutherford."

"Don't get me strted on you too, Hudson! I know everything you did to her Including the 25 and Grilled Cheesus."

"Matthew!" Rachel exclaimed blushingy.

"That is enough!" Schue exclaimed. "We need to leave the personal drama at the door and foucus on Regionals!"

"Sorry Mr. Schue but I can't just sit here and do or say nothing when people are trying to hurt my little sister in some way."

Rachel reached over and took his hand. He smiled when he saw the awe and gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you." she whispered.

He just nodded and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Do your thing baby girl."

"Alright, like I was saying..." she stood and faced the front of the classroom. "we've come up with quite a bit of options. I'll get the Broadway selections out of the way first." she glanced down at the clipboard in her hands. "From _West Side Story_ we were thinking Michael could sing "Cool" with the other boys dancing alongside him. We also thought of Mercedes and Noah's duet from _Babes in Arms_ and either "Defying Gravity" or "For Good" from _Wicked_ some by any combination of Santana, Tina, Brittany or Quinn."

"Any of us?" Tina asked. "Why not one of us with you?"

"Singing _Wicked_ without Kurt wouldn't be the same." she answered shrugging her shoulder. "He's the only one I picture myself singing it with. No offense to anyone else. Performing with any of you would be a huge honor. But with Kurt, it's just our thing, you know?"

"Just like singing Diamond is Puckeran's thing." Artie put in his two cents. "No one else can pull it off."

Everyone laughed at Artie's comment, including said mohawed Jewish boy.

"Anyway, there's also a few from _RENT_ , which I think will sound excellent.

"Which ones?" Mercedes asked.

"Our duet from the diva-off for one, Cedes. And as a group number I was thinking either "Seasons of Love" or "Love Heals" or even "La Vie Boheme" but we can figure that out later."

"Great suggestions." Schue went back to the board. He was in the middle of writing stuff down when he turned back to Rachel. "Wait, when did Puck sing a song from _Babes in Arms_? I'm sure I'd remember one."

Puck snapped his head up at this.

"Wait, hold the fuck up! I sang a showtune and didn't even know it? Nobody breathes a word of this!"

"Honestly Noah!" Rachel exclaimed. "Last year. Sammy Davis, Jr., and him being a quote unquote black Jew. Ring any bells?"

"That was a showtune? My badassness must be losing its touch. Whatever." he shrugged. "I'll sing it if Chocolate Mamma will."

Matt stodd up next to his siter.

"There's also the mashups from both boy versus girl competitions we had in here. And us guys could do the Kiss songs. That would take care of a few Icons choices."

"I wouldn't mind singing "Beth" again. Hopefully with her in the audience. Billy Joel's "Lullabye" cold work too."

Quinn's face screwed up when he mentioned their daughter.

Brittany patted his arms lightly from behind.

"I think she'd love to hear them. Lord Tubbington says you should put them CD for her and give it to Shelby on one of your visits."

Not many people knew of the visits Puck made to Akron to see his little girl. The agreement came after one of the Berryford siblings confronted him after his Juvie stint. After finding out that Shelby hadn't kept up her end of the open adoption he opted into when signing the papers - which caused him to get drunk and land himself there with the ATM incident when there was no one to talk to about his frustrations. These visits started a month after his release and was only granted when both Rachel and Matt vouched for him that he was getting counseling and doing community service along with bringing up his GPA.

"Thanks Brit. I'll think about it." he said wit a sad smile. "Anyway, back on to the music. You were saying Rutherford?"

The meeting went on from there.

#~#~#~#~#

Later that afternoon's rehersal, Matt cornered Puck a while later during a fifteen minute break.

"Puckerman! I gotta bone to pick with you!"

"What up Rutherford?"

Matt stared at the mohawked Jew for a few seconds getting ready to lay into him.

"How could you let Hudson do that? You know how hurt my baby doll was when you started ignoring her?" he asked poking Puck in the chest. "Kept asking me why 'Noah' didn't wanna be friends anymore. I know you feel guilty about their break-up but it all comes down to him lying about Satan."

"I know dude. But what was I supposed to do man? I was legit between a fucking rock and a hard place."

"There was more to it, wasn't there?" he asked. "I've seen the way you look at her. "There has to be. Hudson couldn't have made things that simple."

"I had to stay away from her. In every fuckin' sense of the damn word, even in friendship. I wasn't even allowed to protect her unless it was from the shadows so he wouldn't know about it. You have no idea how much it was killing me."

"I bet he took a lot of pleasure cockblocking you. Fucking bastard." Matt said rubbing the back of his head. "You know he left Rach in the tree lot? Good thing me and Chang showed up to help carry the tree for when they found one. Got there just as the fucktard was walking away from her, standing out in the dark cold by herself."

"Bastard."

"I know."

"I never wanted to make that promise."

"I know that too." Matt said. "When the time's right, you have my blessing."

"I don't know what you're talkig about." Puck tried to brush it off. "Your sister's cool and hot and all. But w'er just friends. Or we were til I fucked up."

"Rachel will forgive you. Just talk to her. Explain."

"Really? I blew her off for weeks becuase her douche of an ex told me to. You really think she'll firgive that?"

"You never know til you try. But seriously, you have my blessing. Something he never had. Or asked for. From either of us."

Puck looked shocked.

"Why would he need mine?"

"She was yours first. And after the stunt he pulled the first time, I sure as Hell wan't gonna give him permision this time."

"What do you mean the first time?"

"Right after Babygate." Matt scratched the back of his head. "He did some of the same stuff this last time they were together. You know...forgeting dates, not wanting to hold her hand in the hallways, stuff like that The worst thing he did then was the way he broke up with her."

"I heard about taht. The shit he told her was fucked up. And that's coming from a dick like me."

"Word."

"But she sure got back at him. Remember her singing "Gives You Hell" at him? I swear, if it hadn't been for Q and my Beth, I woulda grabbed her and shown her what a real man was."

Matt chuckled at his response.

"I bet you woulda." he said with a small grin that suddenly fell. "But then again, what can I expect from the guy who said he was gonna break up with her anyway cuz she wouldn't let him touch her boobs?"

"Aw man, she tells kyou everything? Doesn't she? Look, I didn't really mean that. It was my defense mechanism rearing its ugly head." he rubbed his mohawk. "She wounded my pride after I made the biggest gesture a guy like me can make for any girl. I figured if I was a jerk to her then I'd feel better. Which I totally didn't, by the way. But it really hurt that she didn't really give us a shot, even after I picked her over my fuckin' rep." he started pacing. "Did she tell kyou about that night?"

Matt nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks for that, dude."

"For what? Almost popping your sister's cherry?"

"For being a real man and walking away when you really didn't want to. I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy."

"No. It fuckin' wasn't. I just couldn't do that to her. I didn't want her to regret  
things she did, decisions she made come morning light."

"And that's why you'd get my blessing ten times over before the Jolly Green Giant or St. Fuckface. I know that no matter how much you want in her pants that you'd never pressure her."

"Of course I wouldn't. But enough of the feelings talk dude. I feel like I'm growing a mangina. COD marathon later. For now, let's talk music. I'm thinking the Unholy Trinity should sing that stupid song they used to get in. Finn showed me the clip and it wasn't that bad. What do you think?"

"It could work. Maybe if Q didn't hog ninety percent of the song like last time."

"And ther'e that Maddona song Schue made us sing. But I'm not sure who can do Hummel's lines."

"We coud see if the Changster or Trouty can sing that high. Or as least high enough."

"That might work. I know you, me and the duffus ain't got the chops to sing those otes."

"Yeah, even if Rach worked with any of us. That reminds me, she forgot one of the songs from the musicals."

"Which one?"

" _Guys and Dolls_. The big nmber near the end."

"Why does that sound familar?"

"Something about gamblig and cheesecake or something? And milk with Bacardi."

"Brando!"

"Okay guys! Let's bring it in." Schue said, getting everyone's attention.

"I got this bro." he told Matt. "Hey Mr. Schue, I got a song in mind. The other night I was flipping channels and this old Brando movie was one. Dude was awesome, even if he was singing and dancing. Anyways, there's this song he sings in the middle of this big crap game."

"Noah? You saw _Guys and Dolls_ and rememberd one of the songs? I'm so proud of you for broadening your horizons!" Rachel squealed. "Skye Masterson's "Luck be a Lady" would be wonderful for Regionals. I can't believe I forgot that for our list."

"Whatever, thanks Berry."

Most of the glee club was surprised.

"Man-whore willing saw a showtune movie?" Santana quipped. "Either he's grown a vagina or lost his mind."

"Shut it Satan! It was Brando so it had to be a little badass. I just ignored most of that shit. Only reason I paid attention to that one was cuz of the crap game."

"Any other suggestions?"

"Yeah, I was telling Rutherford that maybe us guys could do that stupid adonna song you made us sing. And the Unhoy Trinity over there could do their audition song."

"How do you kow about that?" Quinn asked him slightly annoyed.

"Hudson showed me the clip when you two were still all lovey-dovey, before he started sniffing 'round the skirt over here."

"Noah! That was a highly rude and inappriate way to refrer to me!" Rachel yelled at him indignately.

"Sorry _Rachel_."

The small Jewess rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway, the video wasn't have bad. Baby Mama just has to share more of the song this time."

"What else have you got for us?"

"Just one more. I was going through Ma's old vinyls the other day and came across some James Taylor. I think my boys Wheels and Trouty could legit rock "Fire and Rain" which takes care of both the Icons and acustic cats."

"Moving on." Mr. Schue said, carrying on the Meeting.

More songs were suggested from the others.

Quinn suggested Santana ana Mercedes sing and Adele mash-up of "Rumor Has It" and "Someone Like You" while Tina brought up Quinn and Rachel's mash-up "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty" mash-up.

Finn brought up the Madonna mash-up that Rachel put toeghter from she was dating Jesse and he swiped his V-card with Santana.

Mike suggested "I'll be There for You" by Bon Jovi and "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne while Mercedes came up with "One" by U2 and "I Lived" by OneRepublic.

"Mercedes should totally do that song she was gonna do at Sectionals last years." Sam said. "I heard here singing it once in here while Rachel was helping her warm up."

"That sounds fantastic Samuel."

"Thanks Rach."

Artie came up with a mash-up of James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend" and "You Live, You Learn" by Alanis Morissette.

Othere songs were disussed. Some acepted right off the bat. Some turned down for one reason or another. Some put on a "maybe" list. The same precess went on the next day.

#~#~#~#~#

 **Author's Note2: Okay, I think I'm gonna stop it her for now. The next chapter's gonna take a little more time to put out since I need to completly rewrite at least sixty percent of the chapter I had alrealy had done. The chapter was ninety percent done when the flash drive I had it on broke. Luckily I had part of it saved to another flash drive. So please be patient with me. Until then, wish me another note, I have a question for everyone. This especially goes out to fellow writers. When writng stories for the same fandom, is it okay to use the same flashbacks in different stories if they're not related in plot? I think I've seen it done in fics that were part of the same series but not in stories that had different storylines. Just wanted to know.**


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